Short on bobby pins

[michelle]

I've just crossed a bridge (the one with the Simon Says) and I've found the base which is saturated with gas. However, I'm out of bobby pins. Can't cross back to get to the dodgy dealer (who I think sells lockpicks) and I can't get into people's houses through the back door without lockpicks either. I've been searching the bins and get metal bits, but no bobby pins (as some web sites have suggested) ... need help to get bobby pins and make progress, without having to wind back to Maidenholme, where I think I've scoured all the bobby pins that were available anyway. Grateful for guidance.

Also, I'm playing PC on Linux, via Steam.

[michelle]

I've wound back the save game, but can't find bobby pins or lockpicks to buy, I've also searched bins in multiple areas and I don't get bobby pins on searching. Also, houses I've previously raided still have empty closets; they haven't regenerated. I'm at a loss and need guidance please.

[Melbac]

Try kill Bobbys they drop bobby pins.

[michelle]

Thanks. Not the easiest to do, except at night sometimes. Do they respawn? I've got a feeling I'm going to be running short for the whole game at this rate. Various recent things I read say that bobby pins should be found in trash cans/rubbish bins, but I haven't turned anything up that way yet.

[Smoking Flowerpot]

If you bribe the blue bobbies with scotch or strange alcohol, they often drop items. Sometimes bobby pins, sometimes weapons, sometimes apples, sometimes bobby key cards, sometimes nothing. You don't have to kill them, although that works, too.

Are you playing Sally right now? It's only as her that I'm often short on bobby pins. Her chapter must have less of them on average per random loot.

[michelle]

Bribing them. Never thought of that. I'm currently playing as Arthur. I managed to kill enough bobbies to get into that district and claim the hatch across Plassey Bridge, but I'm still working the quests in Lud's Holme at the moment, and killing the bobbies there as they seem to be easier targets.

[Smoking Flowerpot]

Only the Village bobbies wearing blue can be bribed. The ones in red can't be bribed. Same with the Garden district guard/thugs - they can't be bribed, either.

Did you do the strange alcohol quest yet? If you bring back more empty bottles to the quest site, you can make endless strange alcohol, filling up empty bottles for as long as Arthur's chapter lasts. The still never empties, even though you only made one batch of the stuff. You can only do that as Arthur, though, since the others can't get that stuff during their chapters. The strange alcohol bribes the bobbies the exact same way as Scotch.

Glad you found the bobby pins.

[Ink Hyaena]

Every playthrough is different, sometimes you'll have excess of what you need, sometimes it's really hard to find anything. My first time playing Arthur when the game first came out, I struggled to find any. Just got done doing a 2nd run with him a few weeks ago and I had at least 90 pins in my inventory, along with 78 bottles of rubbing alcohol.